Engineering Commons^™

Towards More Adequate Representation Of Uncertainty: From Intervals To Set Intervals, With The Possible Addition Of Probabilities And Certainty Degrees, J. T. Yao, Y. Y. Yao, Vladik Kreinovich, Paulo Pinheiro Da Silva, Scott A. Starks, Gang Xiang, H. T. Nguyen

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In the ideal case of complete knowledge, for each property Pi (such as "high fever", "headache", etc.), we know the exact set Si of all the objects that satisfy this property. In practice, we usually only have partial knowledge. In this case, we only know the set Si- of all the objects about which we know that Pi holds and the set Si+ about which we know that Pi may hold (i.e., equivalently, that we have not yet excluded the possibility of Pi). This pair of sets is called a set interval.

Based on the knowledge of the original properties, …

Estimating Variance Under Interval And Fuzzy Uncertainty: Parallel Algorithms, Karen Villaverde, Gang Xiang

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Traditional data processing in science and engineering starts with computing the basic statistical characteristics such as the population mean E and population variance V. In computing these characteristics, it is usually assumed that the corresponding data values x1,...,xn are known exactly. In many practical situations, we only know intervals [xi-,xi+] that contain the actual (unknown) values of xi or, more generally, a fuzzy number that describes xi. In this case, different possible values of xi lead, in general, to different values of E and V. In such situations, we are interested in producing the intervals of possible values of E …

How To Measure A Degree Of Mismatch Between Probability Models, P-Boxes, Etc.: A Decision-Theory-Motivated Utility-Based Approach, Luc Longpre, Scott Ferson, W. Troy Tucker

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Different models can be used to describe real-life phenomena: deterministic, probabilistic, fuzzy, models in which we have interval-valued or fuzzy-valued probabilities, etc. Models are usually not absolutely accurate. It is therefore important to know how accurate is a given model. In other words, it is important to be able to measure a mismatch between the model and the empirical data. In this paper, we describe an approach of measuring this mismatch which is based on the notion of utility, the central notion of utility theory.

We also show that a similar approach can be used to measure the loss of …

Relations Between Interval Computing And Soft Computing, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

This paper starts with a brief reminder of why data processing and knowledge processing are needed in the first place, why interval and fuzzy methods are needed for data and knowledge processing, and which of the possible data and knowledge processing techniques we should use. Then, we explain how these reasonable soft computing techniques are naturally related with interval computing. Finally, we explain the need for interval-valued fuzzy techniques -- techniques which will be used a lot in our future applications -- and how the transition to such techniques is also related to interval computing.

Towards Fast Algorithms For Processing Type-2 Fuzzy Data: Extending Mendel's Algorithms From Interval-Valued To A More General Case, Vladik Kreinovich, Gang Xiang

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

It is known that processing of data under general type-1 fuzzy uncertainty can be reduced to the simplest case -- of interval uncertainty: namely, Zadeh's extension principle is equivalent to level-by-level interval computations applied to alpha-cuts of the corresponding fuzzy numbers.

However, type-1 fuzzy numbers may not be the most adequate way of describing uncertainty, because they require that an expert can describe his or her degree of confidence in a statement by an exact value. In practice, it is more reasonable to expect that the expert estimates his or her degree by using imprecise words from natural language -- …

Cahsi Year 2 Evaluation Report: Recruiting, Retaining, And Advancing Hispanics In Computing, Heather Thiry, Sarah Hug, Lecia Barker

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

No abstract provided.

Applications Of 1-D Versions Of Image Referencing Techniques To Hydrology And To Patient Rehabilitation, Roberto Araiza, Martine Ceberio, Naga Suman Kanagala, Vladik Kreinovich, Gang Xiang

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In this paper, we consider two seemingly unrelated problems: the hydrology problem of relation between groundwater and surface water, and a problem of identification of human gait in neuro-rehabilitation. It turns out that in both problems, we can efficiently use soft computing-motivated algorithms originally developed for image referencing.

Beyond Intervals: Phase Transitions Lead To More General Ranges, Karen Villaverde, Gilbert Ornelas

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the main tasks of science and engineering is to use the current values of the physical quantities for predicting the future values of the desired quantities. Due to the (inevitable) measurement inaccuracy, we usually know the current values of the physical quantities with interval uncertainty. Traditionally, it is assumed that all the processes are continuous; as a result, the range of possible values of the future quantities is also known with interval uncertainty. However, in many practical situations (such as phase transitions), the dependence of the future values on the current ones becomes discontinuous. We show that in …

Selecting The Most Representative Sample Is Np-Hard: Need For Expert (Fuzzy) Knowledge, J. Esteban Gamez, Francois Modave, Olga Kosheleva

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the main applications of fuzzy techniques is to formalize the notions of "typical", "representative", etc.

The main idea behind fuzzy techniques is that they formalize expert knowledge expressed by words from natural language.

In this paper, we show that if we do not use this knowledge, i.e., if we only use the data, then selecting the most representative sample becomes a computationally difficult (NP-hard) problem. Thus, the need to find such samples in reasonable time justifies the use of fuzzy techniques.

Extracting Computable Bounds (And Algorithms) From Classical Existence Proofs: Girard Domains Enable Us To Go Beyond Local Compactness, Vladik Kreinovich, Karen Villaverde

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In classical mathematics, the existence of a solution is often proven indirectly, non-constructively, without an efficient method for constructing the corresponding object. In many cases, we can extract an algorithm from a classical proof: e.g., when an object is (non-constructively) proven to be unique in a locally compact space (or when there are two such objects with a known lower bound on the distance between them). In many other practical situations, a (seemingly) natural formalization of the corresponding practical problem leads to a non-compact set. In this paper, we show that often, in such situations, we can extract efficient algorithms …

Identification Of Human Gait In Neuro-Rehabilitation: Towards Efficient Algorithms, Naga Suman Kanagala, Martine Ceberio, Thompson Sarkodie-Gyan, Vladik Kreinovich, Roberto Araiza

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Many neurological diseases such as stroke, traumatic body injury, spinal cord injury drastically decrease the patient's ability to walk without physical assistance. To re-establish normal gait, patients undergo extensive rehabilitation. At present, rehabilitation requires gait assessment by highly qualified experienced clinicians. To make rehabilitations easier to access and to decrease the rehabilitation cost, it is desirable to automate gait assessment. In precise terms, gait assessment means comparing the recorded patient's gait with a standard (average) gait of healthy people of the same body measurements. One of the problems in this comparison is that patients walk slower; so, to properly compare …

Integrating Random Testing With Constraints For Improved Efficiency And Diversity, Yoonsik Cheon, Antonio Cortes, Martine Ceberio, Gary T. Leavens

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Random testing can be fully automated, eliminates subjectiveness in constructing test cases, and increases the diversity of test data. However, randomly generated tests may not satisfy program's assumptions (e.g., method preconditions). While constraint solving can satisfy such assumptions, it does not necessarily generate diverse tests and is hard to apply to large programs. We blend these techniques by extending random testing with constraint solving, improving the efficiency of generating valid test data while preserving diversity. For domains such as objects, we generate input values randomly; however, for values of finite domains such as integers, we represent test data generation as …

A Library-Based Approach To Translating Ocl Constraints To Jml Assertions For Runtime Checking, Carmen Avila, Guillermo Flores, Jr., Yoonsik Cheon

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

OCL is a formal notation to specify constraints on UML models that cannot otherwise be expressed by diagrammatic notations such as class diagrams. Using OCL one can document detailed design decisions and choices along with the behavior, e.g., class invariants and method pre and postconditions. However, OCL constraints cannot be directly executed and checked at runtime by an implementation, thus constraint violations may not be detected or noticed, causing many potential development and maintenance problems. In this paper we propose an approach to checking OCL constraints at runtime by translating them to executable JML assertions. The key components of our …

Identifying And Explaining Map Quality Through Provenance: A User Study, Nicholas Ricky Del Rio, Paulo Pinheiro Da Silva

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Applications deployed on cyber-infrastructures often rely on multiple data sources and distributed compute resources to access, process, and derive results. When application results are maps, it is possible that non-intentional imperfections can get introduced into the map generation processes because of several reasons including the use of low quality datasets, use of data filtering techniques incompatible for the kind of map to be generated, or even the use of inappropriate mapping parameters, e.g., low-resolution gridding parameters. Without some means for accessing and visualizing the provenance associated with map generation processes, i.e., metadata about information sources and methods used to derive …

Equidecomposability (Scissors Congruence) Of Polyhedra In R^3 And R^4 Is Algorithmically Decidable: Hilbert's 3rd Problem Revisited, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

No abstract provided.

Phase Change Cooling Applications - Engine Cooling, Kiran Kumar Katta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Waste heat recovery system composed of two phase cooling system, exhaust heat exchanger, and mini-turbine has been proposed by Henry Works, Inc to generate auxiliary power via harvesting engine cooling and exhaust heat loss from heavy duty vehicles. The objective of this research is to evaluate the two phase cooling system through the engine dynamometer test and obtain initial test data for the development of the waste heat recovery system. Engine dynamometer experiment for evaluating two phase cooling has been conducted using Perkins diesel engine. During two phase cooling phase, the coolant temperature showed less than 1 °C variation in …

Screening The Phytoremediation Potential Of Native Plants Growing On Mine Tailings In Arizona, Usa, Md Nazmul Haque

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mining companies have been playing an important role for the utilization of the Earth's natural resources for the prosperity of human society. However, the mining of resources has generated solid wastes called tailings that have become a serious environmental threat worldwide. Technologies such as soil caping have been used to remediate the problem. Nevertheless, the remediation of mine tailings using conventional technologies is costly and environmentally unpleasant. Since the last few decades, a plant based technology known as phytoremediation has appeared as a promising alternative. Several plant species have demonstrated to have phytoremediation capabilities; though, best results have been obtained …

Quantifying Anisotropy In Asphalt Concrete Pavements Using An Ultrasonic Method, Monica C. Jurado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Asphalt concrete is a bonded granular material whose internal structure is anisotropic. Such anisotropy is due to anisotropic particles and void's structure, particle distribution and orientation, and restrain and force pattern used during compaction. Even with this knowledge asphalt concrete design is made considering asphalt concrete as an isotropic material. The biggest difference between an isotropic and anisotropic material is that, an isotropic material is characterized by two independent constants and an anisotropic material could be characterized by up to 81 constants. An extensive research to characterize and quantify anisotropy is only available for some composite materials. Based on the …

Expert System Design Guide For Lower Classification Roads Over High Pi Clays, Yaqi Wanyan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research was focused on low-volume roads over expansive clayey soils in Texas. In spite of the redundant pavement designs recommended and widely used in Texas for roads in high PI clay areas, these pavements often fail prematurely. This failure occurs primarily because of the highly variable properties of the clayey subgrade throughout the year due to moisture fluctuations. The problematic nature of high PI clays, despite the fact that volumetric changes such as heaving are sometime considered in the design, is of concern since they contribute to roughness and longitudinal shrinkage cracking of the road, and as such the …

Homography Based Multiple Camera Detection Of Camouflaged Targets, Jesus Flores Guerra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis proposes an improvement on segmentation of camouflaged objects by combining information from multiple static cameras with overlapping views onto a common reference plane. Previous camouflage detection work relies on a single camera and focuses on pattern recognition, gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) computation, convexity detection and operations such as connected components or morphology. These methods make real-time implementation computationally expensive. The proposed work diverges from these techniques, taking advantage of the added information from several viewpoints. Background subtraction is performed on each individual camera and then, the segmentation result is transformed onto a common plane using homography. A …

Stochastic Gaussian And Non-Gaussian Signal Modeling, Madhu Kishore Yerramothu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis introduces a methodology for modeling stochastic signals that have either Gaussian or approximately bell-shaped non-Gaussian distribution. The synthesized model can be used to generate stochastic signals that approximate both the power spectral density (PSD) and the probability density function (pdf) of the original stochastic signal. The new methodology is based on non-linear transformations, filter banks and autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) models. Because the stochastic signals modeled can have Gaussian distribution or approximately bell shaped non-Gaussian distribution, normality tests such as sample skewness, sample kurtosis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Shapiro-Wilk test are also used.

Many methods have been proposed in the …

E-Quality Control: A Support Vector Machines Approach, Kalyan Reddy Aleti

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The web-enabled quality control process presents many benefits to industry, such as universal access, remote control capability, and integration of production equipment into information networks for improved efficiency. This capability has a great potential, since engineers can access and control the equipment anytime, anywhere as the design stages evolve. In this context, this work uses innovative methods in remote part tracking and quality control with the aid of the modern equipment and application of Support Vector machine learning approach to predict the outcome of the quality control process. The classifier equations are built on the data obtained from the experiments …

Stereolithography Of Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogels With Application In Tissue Engineering As Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Scaffolds, Karina Arcaute

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, rapid prototyping (RP) technologies initially developed to create prototypes prior to production for the automotive, aerospace, and other industries, have found applications in tissue engineering (TE). Several different RP technologies are being used to fabricate biocompatible 3D structures with controlled micro- and macro-scale characteristics. The focus of this research was to explore the capabilities of the RP technology, stereolithography (SL), for creating complex, 3D scaffolds with applications in TE using a photocrosslinkable biopolymer, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The primary objective was to create an implantable multi-lumen nerve guidance conduit (NGC) for the regeneration of peripheral nerves.

Studies of …

A Distributed Reconstruction Of Ekg Signals, Gabriel Cordova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this Thesis the parallel computing methodology is applied to an algorithm used in the reconstruction of electrocardiographic (EKG) measurements. The reconstructions are being performed to obtain a better understanding of the source and behavior of the electrical activity that generates the EKG measurements. The contribution of this Thesis is to identify and eliminate inefficiencies present in the current reconstruction algorithm. Additionally, this Thesis reduces the computation times of the EKG reconstruction by applying distributed computing through the use of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). Lastly, it provides an analysis of the speed-up and efficiency of the distribution implemented using parallel …

Evaluation Of An Image Processing Algorithm For Scene Change Detection, Daniel Flores

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite the efforts to reduce traffic accidents by government entities and automobile manufactures, the numbers of accidents are not considerably reduced. An evaluation of an algorithm based on the fly's eye is done on this research applying its principles to detect scene change on images for printed circuit boards providing initial steps to implement this algorithm on vehicular traffic to keep track of objects moving on the field for collision avoidance purposes. The effectiveness of the algorithm is addressed through a comparison of its performance with that found in experimental data.

Analysis Of Number And Mass Concentration Of Coarse And Fine, Nancy Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is currently much concern over particles suspended in the ambient air, their effects on people and the environment throughout the world. The suspended particles can cause adverse health effects, reduce visibility and over the course of time wear buildings. Primary air quality concerns are of particles, their effects and their key characteristics. Particle number concentration (NC) of traffic emissions is an important element of the study, specifically heavy duty diesel engine emissions. Particle number concentration is the number of particles of a specific size in a unit of air; in this study they are measured by the number of …

Guidelines For Using Local Material For Roadway Base And Subbase, Biraj Gautam

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Flexible base materials that meet TxDOT specifications are getting more difficult to purchase in many TxDOT Districts. As a result, higher quality materials have to be hauled long distances, sometimes from other States. This act would significantly increase the costs associated with the construction of roads and subsequent maintenance and rehabilitation of them. Lower quality (i.e., out-of-specification) materials are normally available. If through appropriate modifications of the materials (adjusting the gradation or/and stabilization) or structural design (specifying thicker layers of base and/or hot mix) the use of the local materials can be permitted, the construction can be accelerated and significant …

Allocating Emergency Response Vehicles To Cover Critical Infrastructures, Hao Lei

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Optimal deployment of limited emergency response service units in a metropolitan area is of interests to public agencies. The limited emergency units not only have to respond to the demand for service by residents and businesses, but also cover Critical Infrastructures (CIs). This Thesis formulates an improved optimization model to allocate different types of Emergency Response Service (ERS) units among their candidate base stations. The allocation of units must ensure maximum coverage to CIs, subject to the capacities of the base stations, service standard in terms of time to reach the CIs, and the availability of the ERS units (when …

Assessment Of Human Muscle Fatigue From Surface Emg Signals Recorded During Isometric Voluntary Contractions By Using A Cosine Modulated Filter Bank, Cristhian Mauricio Potes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Human muscle fatigue involves both a decrease in the frequency and increase in the amplitude of a surface electromyographic (EMG) signal. Muscle fatigue is also related to a decrease of the force impeding to reach the same initial level of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). To determine muscle fatigue indices, a method is proposed by decomposing a surface EMG signal into 32-subbands. This decomposition was attained by using a cosine modulated filter bank. The

surface EMG signals analyzed during this research were recorded during isometric voluntary contractions. Both the instantaneous mean frequency (IMF) and the instantaneous amplitude (IA) are estimated …

A Study Of The Interaction Of Thioindigo Dye, With Several Inorganic Host Materials, Alejandra Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Maya Blue has been the focus of numerous studies and is believed to be a mixture of palygorskite clay and indigo dye.^1,2 Several derivatives of this pigment have been developed with intriguing properties. For instance, the dye thioindigo reacts with the palygorskite clay to exhibit a broad range of colors from red to blue under UV-Vis excitation. Based on FT-Raman and computer simulation, previous work performed in our group could relate indigo and thioindigo interaction to the aluminum sites in the framework. super>3,4

The work performed with other inorganic host materials such as, layer structures and zeolites have …